The Pilot
by Jayne Leigh
Summary: How the Pilot episode might have gone if Matt and Harriet hadn't split up just before Danny's and his return. A Marriet Fic. Please R


**Hey, this is just a standalone fic! This is my idea of the Pilot episode if Matt and Harriet had not broken up. Please review and let me know what you think!! **

**Enjoy**

**The Pilot**

**Love Version**

Matt stared at himself in the mirror, willing himself to sober up. He was up for an award for his latest movie but he had not long had an operation on his back and he really shouldn't be out of bed. Tonight was a big night, he couldn't miss it. So he took a few extra pills more then he was meant to but he was fine... He just needed to get the room to stop spinning...Then he'd be fine.

He took a few deep breaths, preparing himself to go and join everyone back at the table to wait for the results of the award when his cell phone started to ring.

"Hello, Matt Albie."

"Matthew..."

"Hey!" He grinned when heard Harriet's voice. "How did the show go?"

"Crash and burn springs to mind..."

"Oh, I'm sure you were great..." He started.

"No, Matthew...Not me...Wes." 

"Wes?" 

"He went crazy and lost it on air." Harriet explained.

"Is this a joke?"

"Matthew..."

"Danny's behind this, isn't he."

"I'm being serious! He's been fired."

"Seriously?"

"Yes!"

"Where are you?"

"I'm on my way to the wrap party..."

He frowned slightly at his reflection in the mirror. "There's someone staring at me..."

"Matthew! Can you focus?"

"Right, yeah sorry... Okay, I'll come down there... I'm on my way..."

"But Matthew..." She started but he had already hung up the phone.

"Ooops..." Matt said, looking down at his cell when he realised he had shut it off. "Ah well..."

_XxXxX_

"Has anyone seen Matt?" Danny asked.

"Not in a while." Steve, a friend of Matt and his, who was sitting at their table, replied.

"Damn it...Where is he?!" Danny looked around the room, trying to spot his friend. He was high on painkillers, so it wasn't a good idea for him to wonder off on his own. He sighed when he heard them start to read out the nominations.

"And the winner is...Matthew Albie..."

_Damn it! Where is he?! _

"Danny?" Blair reached him, closing her cell phone.

"He's won it and he's not even here." Danny complained.

"Danny, I need to talk to you outside right now."

He frowned at her, concern for Matt was the first thing that sprang to his mind. "What's going on?"

Blair leaned forwards to whisper the news in his ear to make sure no one else over heard.

He watched her walk back towards the exit, trying to get his head around what he was just told. He glanced at the stage to see everyone was looking around, waiting for Matt to appear.

"I need to see tape!" He stated, following her. Maybe Matt had already heard and that's why he wasn't there.

"Danny, what are we going to do?" Steve asked turning around but stopped in mid sentence when he saw Danny wasn't there. "What the hell is going on around here?!"

_XxXxX_

Harriet spotted Cal sitting alone and made her way towards him.

"Tight show tonight..." She commented, gaining his attention.

"Yessss..." He replied, with a slight smile.

"What went on in the control room?" She asked, sitting on the table in front of him.

He started with a sigh. "We got word the sketch was cut...Next thing I know, Wes was up on stage...Standards blows into the room and I wait 53 seconds before I pull the plug."

"There must have had been a lot of confession... it's not like there are rules or procedures about this sort of thing..."

"No, there are strike rules and procedures ...I just didn't follow them..." Cal corrected her. "What's Matt saying??"

"I just spoke to him... He's on about coming down here..." She told him.

"What about the awards?" Cal questioned. "Did he win?" 

"I don't know...I didn't get chance to ask him... He was acting a little strange..."

"Well, tell him we're all rooting for him." Cal smiled as Harriet stood up.

"I'll pass it on." She returned the smile. "It'll be okay."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, we'll stick together."

Harriet made her way to where she was told the guys were sitting, dodging past people and not bothering to pause to answer their questions. She was surprised to see Matt sat with the rest of the cast when she reached the table.

"How did you get here so fast?" She questioned, surprised.

"Hi!" He grinned at her, standing up. "I paid the driver an extra 50 bucks to put his foot down."

"Matthew..." She sighed, rolling her eyes.

"What?"

"Where's Danny?" She asked, looking around.

"Oh, I don't know...I lost him hours ago." He waved his hand in the air, dismissing it before sitting back down and picking up his bottle of beer. It was half way to his mouth when Harriet's hand grabbed his, stopping him from drinking it.

"You're on painkillers, you shouldn't be drinking..." She reminded him.

"Uh..."

She looked at him curiously for a moment and him avoiding eye contract, just made her more suspicious.

"Matthew... What have you done?"

"Hmm?" He asked, innocently.

"Oh my, God!"

"What?"

"You took more painkillers then you were meant to, didn't you?!" She exclaimed. "I thought you were joking when you said it!"

"Harri, it's okay..." He jumped up. "I feel fine...I feel great!"

"That's because you're high! I could throw this glass at your head and you wouldn't feel it!" She said, grabbing a glass off the table.

Matt looked at her as he slowly reached out and took the glass away from her. "Okay, why don't we just stay away from all the glasses, tonight then?"

"Hey guys, you want to hear some good news on a bad night..." Daphne said, walking over to the table. "Matt just won the writers guild award."

"Hey! That's great!" Matt exclaimed as the others cheered and clapped.

Daphne looked at him in surprise. "Matt, what are you doing here?!"

"Staying away from glasses..."

"No, I mean shouldn't you be at the awards?" She questioned.

"Eh...Danny's there...He'll be okay." Matt replied sitting back down.

"Okay, we're going outside now." Harriet grabbed his hand, pulling him up.

"What? Why?" Matt asked.

"To sober you up!"

"No glass involved?"

"No glass."

"Okay, good." He let her lead him towards the exit.

"Hey, Harri..." Dylan called her as they passed him. "You pray before every show right? So what happened tonight? Did it not work?"

Matt looked at Dylan, confused then at Harriet, wondering what the hell he was talking about.

"What?" Harriet asked him.

"Did you not just do it, right...or what?" Dylan laughed.

"Hell, even I know this is not the time for those kind of jokes and I'm high!" Matt commented.

"I'm just asking..." He continued to laugh.

"You know what, Rook when you start making a contribution to the show you can talk to me anyway you want." Harriet replied, causing Dylan to stop laughing. "But you had two lines tonight and one of them you stepped on. So until you accept Jesus Christ as your personal saviour or you make someone laugh...why don't you talk to someone else?"

"Well, you sure told him." Matt stated following her as she walked off.

"Just come on." She grabbed his hand and pulled him along.

"Hey, careful... I just had back surgery."

"You're getting no sympathy from me." She told him.

"Aw come on..." He pouted a little. "I came all the way down here..."

"When you should be at the awards." She cut in. "Don't you think you should call Danny...He'll probably be worrying about you."

"If he was, he would have called me." Matt replied then frowned a little. "Wait, why hasn't he called me."

"Call him!"

"And tell him what? That I decided to come to the wrap party instead of picking up the award...He'll kick my ass..." Matt replied. "No, hang on..._Try _to kick my ass."

"You came down here because Wes got fired." She reminded him.

"Oh yeah..."

"You guys, okay out here?"

They turned around and saw Tom and Simon walking towards them.

"Yeah, just talking." Matt nodded, leaning back against the wall and pulling Harriet in front of him. "So, start from the beginning...Tell me what happened."

"Wes tried to put a sketch on, but Standards wasn't happy with it... so they cut it for Peripheral Vision Man..." Tom explained.

"Urgh, God...that sketch should be thrown on a fire and burnt." Matt rolled his eyes.

"I guess, Wes wasn't too happy about it all and got up during the 'Bush' sketch and did a 53 second rant about how bad television has got, before Cal cut the feed." Tom continued, not bothering to pause when Matt spoke.

"Wow… So this is really serious then..." Matt said, starting to get a little more sober. "They won't have him back after this..."

"But what will happen to the show now?" Tom questioned.

"They'll find someone to replace him." Matt answered.

"You looking for a job?" Simon half joked.

"Sorry, no way..." He smiled, shaking his head. "I just can't believe, Wes lost it over a sketch..."

"I can't believe they cut it. It's the funniest thing we had on the show in years." Tom added.

"I can't believe Wes wrote it." Harriet said.

"I don't think he did." Simon replied.

"Who else would have? Ricky and Ron?"

"What was so wrong that it couldn't go on?" Matt asked.

"Standards thought it would offend religious people." Simon told him.

"Were you offended by it?" Tom looked at Harriet.

"I was offended I wasn't in it."

"What was it about?"

"It was called Crazy Christians..." Tom started.

"You're kidding me, right?!"

"No..."

"What the hell was he thinking?" Matt muttered.

"Who?"

"Wes! He knew they would never let him go ahead with it."

"What are you talking about?" Harriet turned to face him.

"Crazy Christians, it was rejected before."

"When? Before you left?"

"Yes."

"How do you know?"

"Because I wrote it."

"What?"

"I wrote it..." He replied. "It was just before Danny and I left... the network thought it wouldn't put out the right message... but then a lot of sketches wouldn't put out the right message back then."

"So, why did Wes try using it now?" Harriet questioned.

"Because the show was failing." Simon answered. "It's been going down hill for years now...Wes is not up to writing the show any more and Ricky and Ron just aren't good enough."

"The show is going to be dead in two weeks if Ricky and Ron take over." Tom predicted.

"Hey guys..." Daphne appeared at the door. "You're being called back to the studio."

"Who is?"

"Everyone."

They all looked at each other.

"This is it." Harriet sighed.

"I'm coming with you." Matt told her.

"No, you should go and find Danny."

"I'm coming with you." He repeated. "If Wes is still at the Studio, then I need to talk to him."

"Okay, well let's go and get this over with." She said and they all headed back inside.

_XxXxX_

Everyone split up when they got to the studio, all of them going off to do there own thing. Matt had gone to look for Wes and was told that they had just shown him out of the building but said he would probably catch him in the parking lot.

Matt spotted Wes' car with him sat at the stirring wheel, staring ahead. He gently tapped on the window.

"Matt?" He rolled down the window.

"Hey, can I talk to you?"

"Jump in." Wes nodded and Matt walked around the car, getting into the passenger seat.

"So, what happened tonight?" Matt asked him.

"It was time for me to give in." Wes sighed.

"By ranting on about everything that's bad about TV?" He questioned.

"Helped with our ratings, didn't it?" He joked.

Matt managed a small smile and looked down.

"I know why you're here..." Wes started. "And I think it's a good idea." 

"What is?" Matt looked at him.

"Danny and you, taking over the show." Wes replied. "It should have happened 5 years ago..."

"What?"

"I'm sorry I didn't stick up for you, Matt... I truly do regret it and that's when this show started to fail ...When you and Danny left." Wes said. "I'm just glad that this Jordan McDeere is smart enough to realise that you two are the best for the job."

"What job?" Matt frowned. "Danny and I aren't coming back to the show."

"Oh, well... McDeere asked me if I'd give my blessing for the two of you to..." Wes explained. "I just assumed that's why you're here..."

"I haven't talked to Jordan McDeere..." Matt told him, before shaking his head. "But anyway, there is nothing Jack Rudolph could say to get me to come back here."

"That's a shame, the show needs someone like you."

"Well, the show didn't need us 5 years ago apparently..."

"Matt..." Wes sighed.

"I came here tonight to make sure Harriet was okay." Matt told him. "And also to talk to you...I am not going to come back."

"I can't say I blame you." He replied. "Where's Danny, anyway?"

"I don't know, I lost him somewhere back at the award dinner."

"Oh, I heard you won. Congratulations." Wes said. "You've done well for yourself."

"Well, I wasn't alone...Danny helped me a lot."

"You're the perfect team...that's why Jordan McDeere wants the two of you."

"Like I said, it's not going to happen..." Matt replied, just as he's cell phone rang. Pulling it out, he saw Danny was calling him. "I better take this..."

Wes nodded and stayed silent.

"Hey, before you say anything I have a real good excuse for leaving..." Matt started but Danny cut him off.

"Where are you?" 

"I'm at Studio 60. Wes has been fired..."

"I know."

"You know?"

"Yeah, look I'm out the front...come and meet me."

"Uh, okay..." Matt said slowly. "I'll be right there."

"Danny here?" Wes asked when Matt hung up.

"Yeah, I better go."

"Okay, thanks for the chat." Wes nodded as Matt opened the door. "And, Matt... I am sorry about everything."

He glanced back at him for a moment before replying softly. "I know that."

_XxXxX_

"Are you here to save us?" Suzanne asked Matt.

He smiled slightly at her. "Just page everyone to the stage."

He turned and headed down the stairs, his head was so mixed up. A few hours ago, he had the perfect life...A girlfriend he loved, an award winning movie, being able to work with his best friend... now he didn't know what was going to happen.

Danny had relapsed and Matt hadn't noticed. He didn't know his friend was in trouble, he didn't know that he's friend had turned back to something that nearly destroyed him 11 years ago instead of turning to him.

Now, Matt had just agreed to return to Studio 60 even though he had spent all evening telling people it would not happen but Danny couldn't do the movie and Matt couldn't do the movie without Danny.

He jumped when he ran into Harriet, who was making her way to the stage after hearing the page.

"Hey, you're still here." She said, thinking he had left when she couldn't find him earlier.

"Yeah, have you seen Danny?" 

"Danny's here too?"

"Yeah, have you seen him?"

"No. Are you okay? What's going on?"

"Danny and I are taking over the show." He informed her, walking into her dressing room.

She stayed where she was for a moment before turning and following him. "What?"

"We're going to run the show..."

"No, I heard you but I thought you said there was no way..."

"I did say that..." He sat down and rubbed his eyes. "But Jordan McDeere found a way."

"How?" She asked, shutting the door and sitting next to him.

"Some guy wanted to sleep with her so gave her some information about Danny."

"What kind of information?"

Matt paused for a moment, trying to decide whether to tell her or not. "He failed a drug test."

"What?"

"Which means he can't get the insurance to do the movie."

"And he's asked you to come and work with him here?"

"No, he told Jack no, so I have to convince him."

"Why?"

"Because I can't do the movie without him." Matt stated. "And this way, we work here for a couple of years then we can do the movie afterwards."

"But you said you didn't want to work here."

"I know but..."

"But what?" She asked when he trailed off.

"This is our show, Harri... there is so much history here. This is where Danny and I got our first big break... this is where you and I met and fell in love...This show has been a big part of my life and lots of other people's..." He explained. "Ricky and Ron are next in line to take over...They won't be able to keep it going... it will slowly die... I can't let that happen."

"But what about everything that's happened?"

He shrugged. "I'll deal with it. This new network President seems okay."

"It's Jack Rudolph that you need to worry about."

"I can handle Jack, he needs us more then we need him." Matt replied. "I'm worried about Danny."

"Is he going to be able to cope with all of this?"

"He said he's okay, but we haven't really had a chance to talk about it." Matt told her and then stood up. "Which is why I was looking for him."

"Well, good luck."

He smiled at her. "Thanks."

_XxXxX_

"What do you think is going on?" Tom asked, joining Harriet and Simon in front of the stage as everyone else started to gather around, all talking quietly to everyone.

"Here's where we find out what's going to happen to us." Simon replied.

"There's Cal..." Tom pointed as Cal made his way across the stage then jumping down.

"Do you know what's happening?" Simon asked him.

"You'll find out in a minute."

"I'm guessing from that smile, you're not going to be losing your job." Tom said.

"No, I think everything is going to be okay now." Cal replied, sharing a smile with Harriet.

"What? What is it?" Simon questioned, knowing they knew more then they were letting on.

"Just wait." Harriet told him.

"Matt and Danny?" Tom asked when he saw the pair walk onto the stage and people started to cheer and clap.

"See, told you everything was going to be okay." Harriet whispered to the other three.

"Ladies and Gentleman, you're new Executive Producers, Daniel Tripp and Matthew Albie..."

**The End**

**Thanks for reading! Please review and let me know what you think!! **


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